¹ And it came about that when Jesus had come to the end of giving these orders to his twelve disciples, he went away from there, teaching and preaching in their towns.

² Now when John had news in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples

³ To say to him, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another?

⁴ And Jesus, answering, said to them, Go and give news to John of the things which you are seeing and hearing:

⁵ The blind see; those who were not able to, are walking; lepers are made clean; those who were without hearing, now have their ears open; the dead come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them.

⁶ And a blessing will be on him who has no doubts about me.

⁷ And when they were going away, Jesus, talking of John, said to all the people, What went you out into the waste land to see? a tall stem moving in the wind?

⁸ But what went you out to see? a man delicately clothed? Those who have fair robes are in kings' houses.

⁹ But why did you go out? to see a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

¹⁰ This is he of whom it has been said, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way before you.

¹¹ Truly I say to you, Among the sons of women there has not been a greater than John the Baptist: but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹² And from the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven is forcing its way in, and men of force take it.

¹³ For all the prophets and the law were in force till John.

¹⁴ And if you are able to see it, this is Elijah who was to come.

¹⁵ He who has ears, let him give ear.

¹⁶ But what comparison may I make of this generation? It is like children seated in the market-places, crying out to one another,

¹⁷ We made music for you and you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow and you made no signs of grief.

¹⁸ For John came, taking no food or drink, and they say, He has an evil spirit.

¹⁹ The Son of man has come feasting, and they say, See, a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners! And wisdom is judged to be right by her works.

²⁰ Then he went on to say hard things to the towns where most of his works of power were done, because they had not been turned from their sins.

²¹ Unhappy are you, Chorazin! Unhappy are you, Beth-saida! For if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have been turned from their sins in days gone by, clothing themselves in haircloth and putting dust on their heads.

²² But I say to you, It will be better for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judging, than for you.

²³ And you, Capernaum, were you not to be lifted up to heaven? you will go down into hell: for if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been here to this day.

²⁴ But I say to you that it will be better for the land of Sodom in the day of judging, than for you.

²⁵ At that time Jesus made answer and said, I give praise to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things secret from the wise and the men of learning, and have made them clear to little children.

²⁶ Yes, Father, for so it was pleasing in your eyes.

²⁷ All things have been given to me by my Father; and no one has knowledge of the Son, but the Father; and no one has knowledge of the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will make it clear.

²⁸ Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest.

²⁹ Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls;

³⁰ For my yoke is good, and the weight I take up is not hard.

¹ The spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make the broken-hearted well, to say that the prisoners will be made free, and that those in chains will see the light again;

² To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure has come, and the day of punishment from our God; to give comfort to all who are sad;

³ To give them a fair head-dress in place of dust, the oil of joy in place of the clothing of grief, praise in place of sorrow; so that they may be named trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and so that he may have glory.

⁴ And they will be building again the old broken walls, and will make new the old waste places, and will put up again the towns which have been waste for long generations.

⁵ And men from strange countries will be your herdsmen, and those who are not Israelites will be your ploughmen and vine-keepers.

⁶ But you will be named the priests of the Lord, the servants of our God: you will have the wealth of the nations for your food, and you will be clothed with their glory.

⁷ As they had twice as much grief, and marks of shame were their heritage, so in their land they will be rewarded twice over, and will have eternal joy.

⁸ For I, the Lord, take pleasure in upright judging; I will not put up with the violent taking away of right; and I will certainly give them their reward, and I will make an eternal agreement with them.

⁹ And their seed will be noted among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples: it will be clear to all who see them that they are the seed to which the Lord has given his blessing.

¹⁰ I will be full of joy in the Lord, my soul will be glad in my God; for he has put on me the clothing of salvation, covering me with the robe of righteousness, as the husband puts on a fair head-dress, and the bride makes herself beautiful with jewels.

¹¹ For as the earth puts out buds, and as the garden gives growth to the seeds which are planted in it, so the Lord will make righteousness and praise to be flowering before all the nations.